The Fox Wedding
by R.Eileen
Summary: Did you know? When it rains, and the sun still shines, there is a wedding ceremony for a fox...and though it is so mesmerizing, beware...The fox is a trickster, a demon, and it will haunt you with misfortune and bad tidings...
1. Chapter 1

_Did you know? _the grey cat had said to her._ When it rains, and the sun still shines, there is a wedding ceremony for a fox. _

_It is beautiful, and a lovely procession follows. The air is still, the leaves, trees, and flowers wet with shimmering rainbows that light the path of the newly wed._

_And though it is so mesmerizing, beware, for such a thing is not to be witnessed by mere humans. If you see such a thing, and the foxes catch you, it means bad luck. The fox is a trickster, a demon, and it will haunt you with misfortune and bad tidings for witnessing the most sacred and private of its ceremonies._

_You become cursed._

_To be forgiven, you must go to the home of the fox, offer your most humblest of apologies and ask for the trickster's forgiveness._

_Only then can you be free. Only then can you break the curse.  
_

* * *

To be continued... BTW, I don't own jack...  



	2. Chapter 2

"Ne, Ran-chan, did ya know?"

"Know what?"

"When it rains an' th' sun is still shinin', there's a wedding ceremony for a fox."

Rangiku blinked. "That's stupid. Who would get married in the rain?"

"Foxes do!" Gin declared happily, his simple grin widening. " 'Sides, a fox ain't just somebody."

"Sez who?"

"Japan thinks so."

"What's a Japan?"

" 'Sa country. In the Living World."

"Oh." Rangiku looked away. "Still, who'd get married in the rain…?"

"S'not about the rain," Gin retorted adamantly, frustrated that she was missing the point. "It rains while th'sun's still out."

It seemed the second time he made this point, the magic of it hit her. Rangiku's large blue eyes went even wider. "Really?"

"Yah."

"I wanna see!" She shot to her feet to sprint away.

Luckily, Gin was faster. He caught her wrists and brought her down on her bottom. Hard.

"Gi—n!" she whined, pouting and rubbing her butt.

"Ya can't, Ran," he said, and this time there was a serious look to his expression. "S'bad luck t'see such a thing. Ya get cursed."

"By what?"

"By tha foxes, dummy! They think o' th'worst thing in tha world fer ya and make it come true! Ya wanna get cursed an' have yer hair fall out or yer teeth rot? D'ya want th'worst ta happen to ya?"

The worst…

Rangiku glanced down into her lap, breath hitching and tears filling her eyes. The answer was so evident, it seemed foolhardy for him to have even asked, and he didn't even know what "th'worst" was for her.

"Why'd'ya say that, Gin?" she asked quietly and simply.

Gin was silent.

" 'Course I don't want the worst. But you didn't need to be so mean about it."

* * *

To be continued...

BTW, I don't own jack...


	3. Chapter 3

Life was miserable. They hadn't spoken to each other in nearly four days. Gin had done his usual disappearing act for a day, hoping that by the time he had returned, Rangiku would be back to her old self, maybe knock him once upside his head for going his own way again without taking her.

He got part of his wish.

She was waiting for him, but she remained quiet.

Gin frowned. The two had never disagreed on much; their needs, wants, and desires were very basic, so it was very difficult for either of them to get mad at each other, especially since they only had each other.

But whatever he had said must have been bad.

She didn't even look him in the eye.

It was getting a little frightening, this wallowing in silence with only the noise of the treacherous outdoors for company.

This just wouldn't do. Gin was going to have to fix it.

* * *

How could he have said such a thing? 

Rangiku slapped the few pieces of filthy clothing they owned in the muddy riverbank, scrubbing furiously with a cake of soap as hard as rock.

**_D'ya want th'worst ta happen to ya? _**

How unfair! To bring that up to her...!

They'd been together for so long, stood by one another's side, eaten bits of the same fruits, and he had to mention something like that?

**_They think o' th'worst thing in tha world fer ya and make it come true!_**

Gin wasn't an idiot. He knew what the worst thing in the world was for her, her worst fear...

So for the last few days, while his words had been ringing in her ears, she had turned a cold shoulder to his presence. It shouldn't have been that big a deal; he was really only looking out for her, scolding her for her foolishness, which was something normal and something he did quite often. But this time was different in a way she couldn't put her finger on.

It wasn't so much the words; it was the foreboading feeling creeping up her spine.

**_...th'worst thing in tha world...  
_**

* * *

She had finished with their laundry and returned only to find their humble shack empty. 

Rangiku sighed and lowered the wilting basket. That was when she tripped over the first stone.

Frowning, she glanced down. It was a normal thing, stones in this area, but not when they formed a long winding trail that led off into a nearby growth of wilderness that neither of them ventured into alone.

"Gin?" she said aloud, as if to confirm her suspicions.

There was no answer, but her feet seemed to know what to do. She sprinted along the trail of small stones, winding up and around the sandy hills until she broke through the first trees, and still the little line kept going, like small lumpy soldiers in tight formation.

_I__t must have taken him forever to find all these stones,_ she wondered to herself. _But why...?_**_  
_**

Just as suddenly as they had begun, the trail of stones stopped.

"Gin?"

"Ya, Ran?"

She jumped to hear him so close. "You jerk!" she cried, slapping him on the shoulder, momentarily forgetting her silent punishment. "You scared me!"

He was smiling, but there was a little bit of saddness to it. "That's the first ya've spoken ta me in awhile."

Rangiku frowned and crossed her arms over her chest. "Ya, well..."

" 'M sorry fer whatever I said, Ran."

She didn't reply.

"But, I think I can make it up t'ya."

While she still didn't speak, she did glance at him from the corner of her eye.

"Ye're upset 'cause ya can't see a fox wedding fer real. Know ya want ta, but I don't think we got them in this area, which is good. Also, don' wantcha t'get cursed an' have yer hair fall out, 'cause then you'd look real silly."

_He _was gonna look real silly in a second. **_  
_**

"So I got it figured: I can't take ya to see a fox wedding, so let's have one right here."

Rangiku blinked. "Huh?"

That everlasting grin grew bright. He grabbed the small trunk of the cherry blossom tree they happened to be standing under and shook it slightly. It was still slightly early in the morning, and the foilage of the forest was covered in a thick layer of chilly morning dew. And when Gin made his move, the water came free and gently drizzled onto their heads while sunlight spilling through the canopy of the forest shimmered off the droplets and spread small prism like rainbows across the ground.

Rangiku found herself unable to speak, except a gentle expression of glee as one cold droplet trickled down her neck.

She was about to scold him for a silly parlor trick when she realized that he was no longer touching the tree, that water was still falling while the sun was out, and Gin looked just as surprised as her that this was the case.

She would have laughed if she hadn't been left so breathless with wonder.

She tipped her head back, feeling the fresh splatter of rain against her face. It was unreal and unnatural. It was beautiful and mesmerizng.

She looked back to her companion. His hair was untidy, bright in the sunlight, decorated with dew that shone like glass. His eyes were slanted shut and specs of water had caught on the ends of his eyelashes. But he was watching her just the same, regarding her with a kindness that was reserved only for them.

She realized he had been trying to apologize.

He had probably been as miserable as she.

So she decided to apologize back.

On one extended branch of the cherry blossom tree, one bud had bloomed early, a lovely blush of pink in the dark trees. She plucked it down then held the flower to Gin.

Smiling brighter, he took it from her without any hesitation, neither of them aware that social gender roles required it was unmanly of a boy to accept a flower like that, that it should have been the other way around.

But that was a different place, not theirs, and that place was far beyond the two of them: standing alone, in the middle of the rain while the sun still shone, holding hands and gazing into each other's eyes like they had all the time in the world.

* * *

_Did you know...? _

_Oh, grey cat, _she thought while stroking the ashen fur of the feline in her lap,_ why didn't you warn me?_

* * *

To be concluded... 

BTW, I don't own jack...


	4. Chapter 4

Hueco Mundo was chaos.

_Shinigami _and _Arrancar _and Hollow and _Vastro Lordes _zigzagged in and out of her line of sight, blurs of color and black and white, clashing steel against bone and cero against _hakkudo._

The War was underway.

The atmosphere of spiritual pressure was so dense, lighting crashed over their heads. Furious tornadoes had sprung from the dead deserts of the land of Hollows, whiplash from the released _bankai_'s. Further in the distance, she could feel the crackling heat of the initial release from General Commander Yamamoto dominated only by the nearby presence of her _taicho_.

Everything around her was spinning out of control.

The stark black of Kurosaki Ichigo in his _bankai _fighting alongside a glittering Kuchiki Byakyuya and a crimson Urahara Kisuke against five _Espada _was a phenomenal sight. Tousen Kaname held the defense against Komamoru-taicho despite the immense figure of the fox-captain's _bankai_.

"_AIZEN_!"

The fury in her captain's voice made her turn. The great ice wings of _Daiguren Hyorinmaru_ were already spreading across his back as he sped towards the thin figure fixated at the top of the Hueco Mundo towers.

"Wait for me, kid!" Zaraki shouted, bounding off after him, spraying Hollow blood from his knicked sword and torn coat. Of course, leave it so that the bloodthirsty captain of the 11th Division would take umbridge to being left out of what was guaranteed to be a fierce fight.

That left Matsumoto Rangiku to her own devices, which was just how she wanted it.

With the majority of the battle taking place outside the main compound, there was no one to guard the vast entrance of the Hueco Mundo castle. All she had to do was step inside.Granted, in any other situation, she would have followed on the heels of her captain, determined to have his back. But against Aizen, against the one who had hurt Hinamori in such a debilitating way it was doubtful she would ever recover, her captain would want to spread his _zanpakuto _to full power without worrying about anyone getting caught in the crossfire. That was why it was okay for Zaraki to go, but not herself.

Besides, there was something she needed to take care of...

It was odd; once inside, the pandemonium of battle ceased. She wondered distantly what exactly these walls could be made out of.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, taking comfort in her solitude as she gently probed the walls of the great hall. It took a moment, but there it was, the gentle brush of another familiar _reiatsu _against her own.

He knew she was coming. He was waiting.

* * *

Seeing him in a long white coat was almost a mockery of the years he had spent as Captain of the 3rd Division. Had that been the plan when the coast was initially designed? 

His arms were at his sides, stance wide, half turned away from her, half towards. He was smiling as always.

"_Sashiburi-ne, Rangiku_."

Matsumoto didn't reply.

"Ya coulda held on, coulda come with me. Then we wouldn't be like this, ne?"

"I think it was inevitable, Gin."

"_Mah mah_, that's no good," he said with a laugh that left a chalky taste in her mouth. "No way for old friends ta catch up."

_The fox is a demon_, _Haineko _growled to her, whiskers tickling her cheek._ A trickster..._

For a brief moment, she wasn't there. She was standing underneath a cherry blossom tree with droplets of water in her hair, smiling at the little boy she had grown up with. She lifted her hand and placed it on the hilt of her _zanpakuto_. "Did you know, Gin? That when it rains while the sun is still shining, there is a wedding ceremony for a fox?"

His blood red eyes cracked slightly open.

"You told me that to witness a fox wedding, I would be cursed. They would think of the worst thing in the world for me, and they would see to it that it came true." With a soft hiss, she drew _Haineko _and pointed the tip of her blade at him. "But Gin, there's one thing. Talking about the fox wedding, you never told me what would happen; what would happen if instead of witnessing the wedding...I were a part of it."

He stood there, regarding her.

_Did you know, Gin? Have you known all along?  
_

In the distant halls, it seemed the battle had raged inward. Echoes of battle cries and calls for help radiated along the corridors.

"You'd be cursed, bound to tha fox," he told her, his voice an unwavering whisper. "Bound t'each other, but just as cursed as if you'd witnessed tha ceremony."

"Cursed with the worst thing in the world?"

_Having to watch you disappear from my sight over and over again and know you're never coming back?_

"...Yes."

"I never asked you, Gin; what's the worst thing for you?"

He didn't reply. Then he touched the collar of his jacket, lifted it slightly. Inside, attached at the rim, were the dried, pressed remains of what had once been a spectacular cherry blossom.

Matsumoto wanted to weep at the sight of it.

His expression led her to believe he felt the same way.

"Gin...how do we break free?"

His bright red eyes were solemn. She fought to urge to wipe the white bangs from his brow.

"T'ain't no other way.".

_You've known this all along... _

_There had to be_, she wanted to cry. She wanted to stamp her foot in irritation, break her sword, shout at him until he bent to her will.

_Haineko _dug her claws into Matsumoto's shoulder, hissing, reminding her: she was a Lieutenant of the _Gotei _13, right hand of Hitsugaya Toushiro of the 10th Division, and she proudly wore the rank of _shinigami. _She was a soldier, a fighter. She had been bathed in blood and killed for honor. And he-

Haineko wrapped her long tail around Matsumoto's throat, a mantle of comfort and warmth.

_-he _was a traitor, tormenting her friends, aligning himself with the devil incarnate, plotting behind the backs of so-called comrades the destruction of their world while he led others, including herself, on a leash of lies and false promises. It broke her heart, but she had come to accept that she probably wasn't going to survive this war a long time ago. And if there was no other way...

She brought _Haineko _close to her chest. She could see the scabbard of _Shinsou _as he let his coat fall open.

_To be forgiven, you must go to the home of the fox_, _Haineko _had told her once. _Offer your most humblest of apologies and ask for the trickster's forgiveness._

There was no room for apologies, no time for forgiveness as the tail of the grey cat tightened around her.

_Only then can you be free. Only then can you break the curse._

_Haineko _purred in her hands.

"Bankai."

* * *

_the end _


End file.
